# Understanding the PROTECT Act of 2025

This bill gives Native American tribal courts more power to handle serious crimes on their reservations and to access digital communications when investigating crimes. Specifically, it addresses two major areas: how tribal courts can get information from tech companies and phone providers, and what types of crimes tribal courts can prosecute.

**What's changing with digital access:** Right now, when law enforcement needs to access someone's emails, text messages, or other digital communications stored by companies like Google or Facebook, they need a warrant from a court. This bill adds tribal courts to the list of courts that can issue these warrants. So if a tribal court judge believes there's probable cause that someone committed a crime, they can now issue a warrant requiring tech companies and internet service providers to hand over digital evidence. This applies to investigations involving drug trafficking, drug possession, drug paraphernalia, and firearms offenses on tribal lands.

**What crimes tribal courts can now prosecute:** The bill expands the types of serious crimes that tribal courts have authority to handle. Previously, tribal courts could prosecute certain violent crimes and crimes against tribal officials. Now they can also prosecute drug-related offenses (including trafficking, possession, and possession of drug paraphernalia) and firearms offenses. This means tribal law enforcement can investigate and prosecute these crimes in their own court system rather than having to refer cases to federal prosecutors, which can be slow and sometimes doesn't happen at all.

**Who this affects:** This primarily impacts Native Americans living on federally recognized tribal lands. It gives tribal governments more control over law enforcement and justice on their reservations, potentially leading to faster prosecution of drug and gun crimes that affect their communities. It also affects tech companies, which will now need to respond to warrants from tribal courts in addition to federal and state courts.